Robert E. Lee’s Reflection

It’s been some time since we had fun with Civil War artists. This is Mort Kunstler’s newest print, titled “Lee’s Great Decision.” I’ve been looking at this for the past 15 minutes and I finally figured out what is bothering me. Given the angle at which Kunstler painted this scene, the wall mirror should be reflecting the furniture It just doesn’t work. The perspective is all out of whack. The other thing I don’t quite get is the placement of Lee’s sword on the chair. I find it difficult to imagine that he would walk into such a room and place it there as if were a coat.

I’ve never been in Arlington House, but it’s my understanding that the room in which Lee deliberated is located in the front of the house (2nd floor) and is a very long and narrow room. And, why is everything in a Kunstler painting blue-gray?

Thank you. Kunstler has never been a favorite of mine, in large part because his colors are usually “off” in exactly that way. That, and every firearm in a battle scene seems to be going off simultaneously.

I think the reflection is close enough. You’d be able to see the furniture in the foreground if you were looking straight into the mirror, but the viewer is looking into the mirror at an angle, so the reflection is at an equivalent angle, showing the other side of the room. You can just faintly see the back of the side chair on the opposite side of the table, which seems about right to me.

It doesn’t do much for me otherwise; it seems rough, more like a sketch in oils to work out composition and lighting. Its style doesn’t fit the patrician subject well, but YMMV. Still, it’s not as treacly as this one.

The painting appears to be based on this modern image, right down to the askew position of the big wing chair. The opposite end of the room, which is reflected in the mirror in the photo, can be seen here. Neither mantlepiece, or someone leaning on the nearer one as shown in the painting, would appear reflected in the mirror.

Andy – here’s my problem (in addition to the mirror and the drab colors): as I recall the story, Lee didn’t agonize over his decision in the parole. He was in a small second floor room, pacing back and forth.

We recently received several unsolicited free copies of Dennis Hamilton’s biography of billionaire entrepreneur Sam Wyly. On pages 278-79 is Kuntsler’s “Moonlight and Magnolias,” which according to Mr. Kunstler’s website the Wyly family commissioned to show off their former family home. What he doesn’t add is that the models surely seem to be Wyly and his family, decked out as Louisiana Confederates. The caption reads: “the Wyly family tree meets Gone With the Wind.” I wasn’t aware that Mr. Kunstler worked that way.